


Having a Bad Day, Siha?

by forgetcanon



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Gen, citadel dlc but with thane alive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-11
Updated: 2015-04-11
Packaged: 2018-03-22 08:06:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3721441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgetcanon/pseuds/forgetcanon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What happened?” Thane asked.<br/>“The bridge was alarmed,” Shepard replied.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Having a Bad Day, Siha?

**Author's Note:**

> For some reason or another, Thane survives saving the Salarian Councillor and takes part in the Citadel DLC. Because Javik was Katya's Best Friend that run, I had him replace Liara. I always wanted Thane and Javik to interact.
> 
> I actually wrote this quite some time ago and just discovered it, so I polished it off to post. Don't expect me do to the rest of the DLC.

Shepard tested her amp from the cover of a closed shop. It twanged, but she could keep going.

“From now on, I’m following Liara’s example and wearing an energy shield everywhere I go,” she muttered and moved on to check her gun. Only two clips left. There was a lot of merc-filled ground to cover between her and Cision Motors.

Finally, she checked her body. The cuts from the glass had largely scabbed over, thanks to her implants, but moving too quickly was not going to be pleasant. At least her hand, strained from holding her weight, already felt mostly normal.

Katya stepped carefully as she left the shop, keeping her weight forward so the heels didn’t click. Between fighting her way through in her low heels and going barefoot, the heels only barely won out. If she could redo the evening, she’d have chosen something a little more inconspicuous than her little black dress.

If she could redo the evening, she’d have contacted Joker before going to meet him and found out that the whole thing was a trap. If she could redo the evening, she-

She stumbled as she climbed up the ladder on a side of a building. She definitely would have worn _different shoes_. At the very least, she was glad she went with these ones instead of the wedges she’d considered.

“Brooks,” she said, “I see some mercs. Going silent until I get around them.” Or through them, but Brooks didn’t need to know that.

“Got it,” Brooks said, then, “Do you mean you’re going to be stealthy, or do you mean-”

“I mean stop talking to me unless you’ve got some very, very bad news,” Shepard hissed.

“Got it,” Brooks said. “Right. Okay. Bad news.”

“Brooks!”

“Sorry! Going, er, silent?”

Shepard squatted for a moment, still and silent in the shadows, watching the mercs. They patrolled restlessly, chattering amongst themselves. “Shepard was unarmed!” she caught, and grinned. She was never unarmed without her amp.

Once she had their patterns down, she waited for an opportunity and slid down the ladder, squatting behind a booth. Three seconds ticked by while she listened for the merc’s boots. Closer, closer.

She stood, needing only a fraction of a second to find her target, and shot him through the visor three times. Blood splattered across her face. She flinched, too used to fighting in full armor to expect that, and he fell heavily.

“Shepard’s over there!” One of the mercs yelled, and Shepard tossed a Singularity in his direction before taking down his shields.

Her radio opened. Shepard had only a tiny moment to compose the blistering message she intended to send Brooks before Thane spoke. “Siha, do you read me? What’s your status?”

Shepard beamed and ducked into cover, sighting her next target. “Fine so far. Need backup.”

“Understood. Joker contacted me and told me you’d need assistance. I’ll be there shortly.”

Brooks broke in while Shepard shot down the merc in her dwindling Singularity. “Excuse me, who is this? You’re using an unsecured channel and you’re putting _Commander Shepard_ in danger.” Katya rolled her eyes at the self-righteousness in Brooks’s tone.

“Who is this?” Thane asked, his clipped tone making it clear he wasn’t very impressed with her either.

“Joker mentioned Brooks?” Shepard asked. She caught an upraised arm out of the corner of her eye and slid behind another abandoned booth before the grenades had a chance to go off. The man throwing the grenade probably regretted giving his position away as Shepard gunned him down. “That’s her. Keep quiet, I’m trying not to die, here.”

They obeyed, probably switching to another channel, and Shepard focused on the task at hand. Without distractions she sank easily into the ice-cold calm that awaited her.

These people were trying to kill her. That was fine, she was more dangerous than them when she crawled out of bed. She was running out of clips fast, but that was a problem easily solved by advancing and taking clips from the fallen soldiers.

The bridge was locked down. “Brooks, the bridge is locked down,” Shepard said, setting her Omni-tool to try to hack it. Tali had uploaded a helpful program to it recently. While it worked she retreated to an abandoned shop.

“Right, because of the, uh, lockdown,” Brooks said. “Can you get through?”

“Give me a moment,” Shepard said. Her radio opened again.

“Commander,” Javik said. “I heard you are in trouble. I am close by.”

Shepard grinned. “How close? I can wait, leave you some-“

Alarms blared as the bridge’s gate opened. Vaguely, she heard it react to her Spectre status.

“Never mind,” Shepard said. “Get here quickly.” She sprinted across the bridge and prayed there were no snipers up high.

“What happened?” Thane asked.

“The bridge was alarmed,” Shepard replied.

“I can hear it from here,” Javik said. “Is this how you primitives spend your time off?”

“No, just Shepard,” Thane said dryly.

“Remind me that you said that later.” Shepard poked her head out from behind a support column and winced as her barriers began taking bullets. Still, she’d managed to spot the two mercs moving down the wall, trying to flank her. A judicious warp and a few well-placed shots took them down.  “I’m almost to the car-lot.”

“I will await you there,” Javik said.

Shepard threw a pair of mercs over the edge of the platform. “Good. Shepard out.”

Working her way down the walkway was almost easy, until the mercs realized that putting themselves near the edge just made it easier for her to put them over it. After that it turned into a game of cat and mouse among the support columns, if mice had grenades and disruptor droids and cats had biotics.

As she headed into Cision Motors, she brushed a few loose strands of black hair back from her face. She definitely preferred fighting in armor. She could feel one of the scrapes on her legs bleeding. That would teach her to slide away from grenades in a skirt.

Two mercs were waiting inside. Shepard debated shooting them through the glass, and whether or not a lawsuit for damages would ensue, only for one of them to light up bright green. The second one, looking at his partner in confusion, paid for his indecision with a beam of metal shooting into his chest.

Shepard opened the door.

“Your enemies are numerous, commander,” Javik said.

“I know,” Shepard said. “You’d think they’d have learned by now.”

“C-Sec is on its way,” Brooks broke in.

Javik jerked his head in the direction of the landing pad. “The building is still locked down.”

“No problem.” Shepard started in the direction of the control pad.

“Your clothing is unsuitable for combat,” Javik commented.

“I was expecting a nice meal, not fighting for my life.”

“You, of all people, should always expect to fight. It would make your life much simpler.”

“Thank you for the advice.” Shepard spotted the door and headed for it, only for it to lock. She rolled her eyes and brought up the bypass module on her Omni-tool.

“Commander,” Javik said, holding out his hand to stay her. He tapped his particle rifle on the glass. “Volus, we require immediate access to the landing zone. If you do not comply, we will-”

The partition lowered.

The volus had a definite quiver in his voice. “Please leave.”

Shepard turned to see Javik smirking at her.

“I’ve had a rough day.”

Javik’s smirk didn’t wilt a bit. “Of course, commander.”

Shepard turned away and led him across the lot. “This sarcasm of your is getting out of hand.”

“In my cycle, leaders who made excuses for poor judgment calls-”

“Were thrown out the airlock?”

“Shot.”

“Lovely.”

Shepard stood back as the shuttle pulled up, gun relaxed by her side as she began mentally composing a sitrep for them so cleanup could begin.

The door opened. The people in the shuttle were wearing the mercs’ colors. Shepard swore, pulling up her gun, but a blur of black and green leapt into the shuttle. Javik, gun already raised, tensed to fire. Shepard pushed his gun aside.

“It’s fine,” Katya said. “He’s with us.”

It was probably indicative of some deeper problem, the way she smiled as Thane decimated the mercs. He was fast, nearly as fast as she remembered him being during the fight against the Collectors, and worked through them methodically.

The last one landed at her feet, groaning. Shepard shot him. “Oh honey, how romantic.”

“I assumed a last-minute rescue was required." Thane grunted as he searched the interior of the shuttle. He made a noise of pleased surprise and turned to them with a Spitfire cradled in his arms. "Care to trade?"

Katya smiled and handed over her shiny new pistol only a bit regretfully. "You got me a present. How sweet of you."

As nice as that gun was, there was something to be said for hefting a minigun while wearing a little black dress.

* * *

(Post sushi disaster banter)

Thane: I was intending to take Kolyat out to dinner to congratulate him on his promotion. There’s only one place in the Citadel that I know of that prepares Fuha fish correctly.

Shepard: How many people am I going to have to apologize to about this?

Thane: I had _reservations_.

(+Romance)

Shepard: *sighs* I’m sorry.

Thane: Now all I need is to extract the apologies from the ones who attacked you.

* * *

(Can't take Thane into the casino.)

Thane: I have become better known than I care to be since saving the Salarian councilor. Though my skill-set is relevant, if I go inside the door I will be carefully watched.

* * *

 

(Post casino banter, friends)

Thane: So, your target managed to get himself shot. I’m only surprised you didn’t even have a chance to threaten him.

(LI)

Thane: Well, there is one good thing that managed to come out of this evening.

Shepard: And that is...?

Thane: You look lovely, Siha. (pause) I’m still surprised you didn’t manage to weasel your way into going in full combat gear.


End file.
